If you read only one thing today, let it be this

If you read only one thing today, let it be this.

JO - Retired politicians don't always make good envoys

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Retired politicians don't always make good envoys

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A certain prime minister of Jamaica, who shall be nameless, is reported to have said that it is not important who is appointed ambassador because he had a telephone.

Read the whole editorial here.

Snippet(s):

"Although this is patently absurd, it has become an axiom of an approach to foreign policy by succeeding governments since the 1970s. Most unfortunately, it has been practised with disastrous results in the capitals of some of the countries that are most important to Jamaica, namely Washington, DC; London; and Ottawa."

"This dumping policy is not received well in foreign capitals because the "host" country knows what is being passed off and is insulted. The fog that engulfed United States-Jamaica relations has not yet cleared in Washington, DC.

Ambassadorial postings cannot be a pension plan for retirees or for politicians with other infirmities such as health problems. Even undistinguished backbenchers have become ambassadors if they are willing to accept less attractive postings. We have seen some who acceded to the diplomatic life without any aptitude, and even when they do not perform they are retained or offered another prestigious posting.

Some of these appointees regard their positions as a reward for work already done and do not exert themselves, to the detriment of Jamaica. Their verbal incontinence is an embarrassment to their country and their sartorial eccentricities a source of derision among their countrymen in the Diaspora. These retirees have not even been aware of their shortcomings while "enjoying" the privileges. They conflate the ceremonial with the cerebral and confuse the deference given to the office with respect for their person.

They are disparaged in dispatches to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by their own staff who file demeaning reports critiquing their conduct and work ethic, disregard for proper procedure and an ignorance of protocol."

&

"We are looking to Prime Minister Bruce Golding to put a stop to these types of appointments and to refrain from rewarding or condoning failure with inappropriate appointments. One bad term does not deserve another. There must be some other form of pension or local sinecure for retired politicians. Jamaica will not be taken seriously or get on any country's foreign policy agenda if we do not have effective representations.

The persons appointed as ambassadors/high commissioners, especially in Washington, DC; London; Ottawa; and at the United Nations, must be suitably qualified persons who could include competent politicians but not those in need of a pension."

WT - EXCLUSIVE: Career diplomats protest Obama appointments. Ambassadorships to be less political.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

EXCLUSIVE: Career diplomats protest Obama appointments. Ambassadorships to be less political.

By Nicholas Kralev (Contact)

Originally published 04:45 a.m., July 10, 2009, updated 05:58 a.m., July 10, 2009

The White House, unaware of historic norms, had been on track to give more than the usual 30 percent of ambassadorial jobs to political appointees until objections from career diplomats forced it to reconsider, administration officials say.

Read the whole article here.

re: "Ambassadorial Appointments"

Guest contributer Hans N. Tuch posted at WhirledView ("A Look at World Politics & Most Everything Else") and summed this up nicely.

Money quote(s):

"The practice of giving ambassadorial appointments to non-professional people solely as a reward for their political contributions to the president's campaign is as stupid and potentially dangerous to the national interest as if the president were to appoint the contributor to a high command in the military."

Read the whole thing.

re: "Obama the Politics of Ambassadorial Appointments"

Charlie J. Brown at Undiplomatic ("dedicated to covering the intersection of foreign policy, global issues, U.S. politics, and pop culture") made a reasonable defense of the administration's ambassadorial appointments thus far.

Money quote(s):

"(S)ome of those appointed by the Obama Administration are foreign policy experts who have a long history of working on the countries and/or issues in question."

&

"The foreign service does an outstanding (and largely unheralded) job of representing U.S. interests overseas. Its members deserve not merely our respect but our admiration. That’s why the list of Obama ambassadorial picks includes a number of distinguished members of the foreign service.

The reality here is that AFSA, which represents the interests of the foreign service, is worried that the foreign service is not getting its traditional share of the pie. They said the same things eight years ago when Bush came to office and sixteen years ago when Clinton got elected. It’s a time-honored Washington ritual."

re: "Obama's Animated Ambassadors"

Tim Kelleher at Big Hollywood had the scoop on some upcoming ambassadorial appointments.

This truly is diplomacy at its most transformative.

Enjoy!

re: "Officially In: Capricia Marshall to Protocol (S/CPR)"

DS at Diplopundit has some welcome news.

Money quote(s):

"Yesterday, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Capricia Penavic Marshall, for Chief of Protocol (S/CPR), with the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service, Department of State. "

&

"In October 1997, at the age of 32, Marshall was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Social Secretary to the White House, becoming the youngest Social Secretary in recent history. Marshall's official responsibilities included the planning and execution of all White House international and domestic events."

re: "Where, oh where are the diplomats going to get a break?"

DS at Diplopundit ("Blogging the Foreign Service: outside looking in, sometimes, inside looking out; monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and elsewhere in the diplomatic universe, so you don't have to.") reviewed recent ambassadorial appointments at plum posts.

Money quote(s):

"(P)robably no surprises in the names we’re hearing or that they have political connections with the Obama Administration or Hillary campaigns. It might come as a shock to you that these top diplomatic missions will have political appointees at their helm instead of career diplomats. But don’t be too shocked, this is so totally in line with the practice from both Democratic and Republican administrations in the past."

&

"(T)he "last-tier" embassies? Don't worry, they all go to career diplomats."

CBS - Foreign Service Group Opposes Rooney Pick

From my archive of press clippings:

CBS

Foreign Service Group Opposes Rooney Pick


Posted by Mark Knoller 1


March 17, 2009 1:48 PM

(AP)In light of today's announcement by President Obama that he's naming Steelers owner Dan Rooney to be US Ambassador to Ireland, I queried John Naland, President of the American Foreign Service Association about the practice.

AFSA is the professional association of the US Foreign Service and has 14,000 dues paying members.

Read the whole article here.

_____

(CBS) Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here.

re: "George Clooney Takes a Meeting at the White House"

TSB at The Skeptical Bureaucrat ("Giving my fellow Americans the view from my cubicle") is talent-spotting for the Department.

Money quote(s):

"I don't yet know how this summit was perceived in the diplomatic community. Bono is traveling in Africa and is unavailable for comment, and Angelina Jolie's spokeswoman did not return my calls.

I must say that George Clooney sure does look exactly like an Ambassador should, and looking the part is half-way there in this mass media age. He projects sincerity well, and has just enough grey at the temples to appear distinguished. And he's obviously mastered the patter: "this is high on their agenda" ... "there was some concern this could fall off the radar" ... "one of a small handful of foreign policy reviews being undertaken at the senior most level" ... "it’s not about government money, not about government troops." Why doesn't he just go for it and ask Obama for an appointment?"

re: "Ambassador Nominees Get Richer, if Not More Professional"

TSB at The Skeptical Bureaucrat ("Giving my fellow Americans the view from my cubicle") relays some rumor and speculation in the ambassadorial sweepstakes.

Money quote(s):

"(I)t's still possible that Obama will appoint no one but stone cold professional diplomats to fill all those vacancies created when the Bush administration's ambassadors were dismissed, just like his admirers in the foreign affairs community (such as here and here) expect he will."

I rather like the sound of that phrasing:

"stone cold professional diplomats."

It'd make a great name for a diploblog, or even for an in-house State Dept. rock band.

re: "The Panic over Political Appointments"

Charlie at Undiplomatic ("dedicated to covering the intersection of diplomacy, global issues, U.S. politics, and pop-culture") puts the political appointments process into perspective.

Money quote(s):

"I’m sympathetic with those of my colleagues who feel like they’re not being heard or “rewarded.” I was on one of the foreign policy teams and I haven’t heard anything back either."

(Fingers crossed for you, Charlie! - CAA)

"It’s not even the middle of January. No transition in history has started appointing positions below Undersecretary in January. And unlike past transitions, this one has focused not just on personnel, but also on fixing what everyone regards as a broken system. Since those recommendations just went to Secretary-Designate Clinton in the past week or two, it’s awfully hard for people to get appointments for positions that may be eliminated in a reorganization."

"(W)hile the process has not been transparent, that’s typical, not unusual — both the Clinton and the Bush process were just as opaque. There are good reasons for that: you don’t want people to know who the other candidates for a given job are, and you want to make sure that the process is designed in a way to limit favortism (sic), not reward it.

To be clear, I would love it if my friends and contacts on the transition teams were to tell me I was a lock for a job. But then they not only would be disingenuous, they also would exceed their authority."

"(T)here are more than 300 jobs on the Plum Book list Zengerle cites (11 pages, roughly 50-60 jobs listed per page). Some are designated for “career incumbents” (meaning foreign service officers) and others, such as most of the ambassadorships, will go to senior FSOs even though they technically are political appointees. But even if you take out those, there are at least 350 to 400 jobs there. And that doesn’t even include the jobs in NSC, Defense and DHS, not to mention the fact that Obama has pledged that Ambassadorships will go to talented experts rather than wealthy donors — and not all of those are going to be career FSOs."

&

"(O)ne rumor going around the building is that the various undersecretaries will have more resources and responsibilities, which probably means more staff positions. In fact, if you listen to the foreign service gossip, those positions are being created in order to find more jobs for those aspiring to a political appointment."